In the cooking of many food products, such as pasta and some vegetables, such as broccoli, the food product is placed in boiling water and kept there for a period of time. The time the food is boiled generally determines the doneness of the food at the completion of the boiling process. Particularly in the preparation of pasta, which many people prefer to be al dente in consistency, the pasta must not be kept in the boiling water for either too short or too long a period of time. Otherwise the pasta will be either too hard or too soft as the case may be.
The standard method of simply watching the clock to know when to remove the pasta from the boiling water at the appropriate time is often unreliable, and requires the cook to pay close attention to the clock. This is often not feasible, particularly when the cook is performing other functions at that time such as preparing the sauce that is to be poured over the cooked pasta. The use of a kitchen timer set to the desired cooking time is helpful as it gives the cook an indication, such as a beeping signal, that the desired cooking period has been completed. However, the cook must then stop whatever he or she is doing at that time, and immediately direct his or her attention to the pasta, which must then be quickly removed from the boiling water. This may create a dilemma for the cook who at that time may be engaged in another activity that demands his or her complete attention.
Devices have been designed that prepare uniformly prepared pasta in large quantities. In some of these devices the pasta remains in the boiling water for a desired time. However, these devices are relatively complex industrial machines that include packaging and pasta transfer devices. An example of such an industrial pasta-preparing device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,732,080 to Vita. The complexity and cost of such an industrial pasta maker make it prohibitive for use in a residential kitchen. Other devices for automatic cooking that are capable of removing pasta from boiling water after a predetermined duration are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,361,684 to Cattaneo and 4,951,558 to Figliuzzi. These devices also take up considerable space, both in terms of storage and in terms of counter/work space, and are also not readily useful in a home kitchen.
There thus remains a need for a device that can be used by the amateur cook to prepare perfectly prepared pasta and vegetables in a relatively automated manner, and which does not require the cook's constant attention.